Circle these dates on the Angels' 2013 schedule

[caption id="attachment_125377" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Like the way Mike Trout plays? Next year (barring injury), you can watch him in six months' worth of games instead of just five, beginning Monday, April 1, when the Angels open their 2013 season at the Reds. (Photo by Jeff Gross, Getty Images)[/caption]

We already knew the basics about the 2013 schedule: the Astros are joining the AL West, so the Angels have a new rival, if you want to call them that; the new arrival requires more interleague games; the Angels will play the NL Central after toying with the NL West this year; the Freeway Series with the Dodgers will be shortened from six games to four.

What we didn't know, until Wednesday, was the actual dates for the 2013 slate of games. (The start times will be released at a later date.)

Here are some of the newsier and juicier notes from next year's schedule:

The Angels open the season Monday, April 1, against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.

They play 20 interleague games instead of the usual 18 -- four home series and four road series. The increase was made necessary by Houston's switch to the American League. This creates two 15-team leagues, meaning interleague play must be a consistent presence throughout the season to make the schedules even out.

The home opener is April 9 against Oakland.

The Angels play the Dodgers May 27-28 at Dodger Stadium, then May 29-30 at Angel Stadium.

Albert Pujols will get to play his old team, the Cardinals, at Angel Stadium July 2-4.

The Angels will continue to play each of their division rivals, including the Astros, 19 times.

They play the Astros for the first time in the season April 12-14 in Anaheim. The teams haven't met since 2007, when the Angels won two of three under the league's rotating system of interleague division series. The Astros had the worst record in the majors last year at 56-106, and again this year at 45-97.

Each team will play 66 games against non-divisional opponents who are in their league. That means six or seven games against teams like Baltimore, Tampa Bay and the White Sox.

The Angels' longest homestand will be 10 games, from June 14-23, against the Yankees, Mariners and Pirates.

The longest road trip is nine games, from Aug. 23 to Sept. 1, at the Mariners, Rays and Brewers.

Among the home series likely to be most popular among fans, the Angels host the Tigers for the first time April 19-21, the Rangers April 22-24, the Cubs June 4-5, the Yankees June 14-16, and the Red Sox July 5-7.

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